Winter of despair: Residents protest power, gas outages in Mingora

Protesters threaten authorities with a massive protest campaign if things did not improve in three days.

SWAT:

 Hundreds of residents of Rang Mala union council protested against power and gas outages and water scarcity in Mingora on Friday.

More than 200 protesters, led by local leaders Muhammadi Khan and Ali Jan, marched towards the Mingora Tehsil Municipal Administration office around 10am and blocked the main road.

Addressing protesters, Jan said residents had not received a drop of water for two weeks from the government, while gas was being diverted to CNG pumps and electricity was nonexistent with 20 hours of power outages daily.

Lashing out at the provincial government, Jan said they elected people in the general elections to provide them with more facilities – not to take away the ones they already had. He added businesses and family life were in a miserable state.

The Mingora-Saidu Road remained blocked for more than two hours after which protesters scattered peacefully. They threatened authorities with a massive protest campaign if things did not improve in three days.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2014.